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ABSTRACT: ON AND OFF THE AVENUE about eyeglasses. Eyeglasses can be big, brash, early Eltonish, but they can also be staunchly studious. After surveying thousands of eyeglasses, the writer would still find it tricky to pick out a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarers in a police lineup. The Italian firm Luxottica, the world’s largest eyewear company, owns Ray-Ban, Persol, Oakley, and Moseley Tribes and has licensing agreements to create and distribute frames for a bunch of houses—Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Prada, Oliver Peoples, Tiffany, Versace, Club Monaco, and Anne Klein, for starters. Also under Luxottica’s purview are the retailers LensCrafters, Pearl Vision, Sunglass Hut, Target Optical, and Sears Optical, as well as EyeMed Vision Care, which is one of the country’s major vision-care insurers. Mentions Prada, Chanel, Morgenthal Frederics, H. L. Purdy, All About Vision, Kazuo Kawasaki for Italee, Alain Mikli, Robert Marc, Modern Eye, A. R. Trapp, Indivijual, Nader Zadi, CustomEyes, Moss Lipow, Peepers, Thierry Lasry, Linda Derector, Silver Lining, Eyeglasses Warehouse, Fabulous Fanny’s, Selima Salaun, Francesca Mondello, Iradj Moini, Moscot, Optical 88, EyeBuyDirect, Zenni Opticals, Glassy Eyes, Suxottica, and 39 Dollar Glasses.
